1 Days Salavan Toumlan Weaving Experience Tour
Tour Overview
Toumlan Weaving Trail Weaving fans can find distinctive ethnic Katang methods and looms at a cluster of villages called Koum-Ban Toumlan. Nearby in Ban Heuan Nyao, visit a longhouse...
Code of Tour: TAD0000031928
Length of Travel: 1 Day
Destinations of Tour:
Departure City: Salavan Province
Price of Tour: Request
Type of Tour: Private
Features of Tour: Ethnic culture tours
Toumlan Weaving Trail
Weaving fans can find distinctive ethnic Katang methods and looms at a cluster of villages called Koum-Ban Toumlan. Nearby in Ban Heuan Nyao, visit a longhouse in which all the inhabitants are cousins! Also on the trail is Khoua Ban Darn, a bombed out bridge crossing the Xe Don River.
Koum-Ban Toumlan reveals unique weaving methods and designs found only there. Visitors who have viewed weavers in other villages will notice the difference in the looms used by Toumlan’s Katang. Several span the width of a house on stilts and hang from the rafters, with weavers vertically shuttling threads to create tin sin (narrow bottom borders on traditional skirts).
Several generations ago, a Katang man named Mr Lue had seven wives, and he built a longhouse in Ban Heuan Nyao (Longhouse Village), with a room for each of his families. His wives had several children, who intermarried, and the ensuing generations extended the longhouse. It eventually reached 103 households, before they broke it down to today’s impressive 40-metre-long structure.
Nearby, the Khua Ban Darn Bridge once spanned the Xe Don River to connect Salavan Town to Toumlan. Prince Souphanouvong – Laos’ first president – designed the bridge built in 1942. However, it was destroyed by US bombers in 1968 in an attempt to cut off an offshoot supply route of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Visitors can examine the bridge’s remains, which protrude from the Xe Don River’s northern bank.
